- His family took him to stay with friends in Arkansas
- They were rebuilding after the Moore, Oklahoma, twister, when he was mauled
- The dog, a bull mastiff, belonged to his host family
- Lynn Geiling pried her dog off of the boy, but it was too late
(CNN) -- At the tender age of five, surviving a tornado a mile wide is, at the least, traumatizing. Being separated from mom and dad after that, and living in a strange house, is enough to make a little boy break down and cry.
Through the eyes of a dog, possessive of its owner, a stranger in the house screaming at a family member can look like a threat that must be dealt with.
The two scenarios cruelly collided over the weekend when a 150-lb bull mastiff fatally mauled a 5-year-old boy, puncturing his head and neck.
Lynn Geiling had taken the little boy into her Jessieville, Arkansas, home after he and his family survived a monster tornado that in May waylaid Moore, Oklahoma. His parents had returned home, 200 miles away, to gather up the pieces of their lives.
A message is left by a homeowner who lost his home in the May 20 tornado on Monday, May 27, in Moore, Oklahoma. View more photos of the aftermath in the region and another gallery of aerial shots of the damage. 
Left to right, Jaqi Castro, Angelica Morris-Smith and Cetoria Petties walk through a tornado ravaged neighborhood handing out supplies to residents and fellow volunteers on May 27. 
Residents gather in the First Baptist Church for the Oklahoma Strong memorial service on Sunday, May 26, to honor victims of the recent deadly tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. 
Preschooler Keltin Marazzi, front center, stands on stage with other school children during the memorial service. 
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin addresses the audience on May 26. 
Tornado victims Christa and Russell Smith hug their children, Evan and Justin Smith, as the service takes place. 
Plaza Towers Elementary School teacher Jennifer Doan is comforted by her fiance, Nyle Rogers, on May 26. 
President Barack Obama is greeted as he tours the tornado-ravaged area near Moore, Oklahoma, on Sunday, May 26. 
Volunteers bow their heads in reverence on Saturday, May 25, in front of a memorial at the Plaza Towers Elementary School where seven children died during the devastating tornado, in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20. 
Mike Hitch prepares to pull a classic Corvette from under the debris of a home destroyed by Monday's tornado on May 25. 
Mike Hitch loads a salvaged Corvette pulled from the rubble onto a tow truck in Moore on May 25. 
Eunice Lassiter sits in the driveway of a friend's tornado-damaged home on May 25 in Moore. 
A volunteer signs a cross on May 25 at a makeshift memorial outside of the destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School where seven children were killed in Monday's tornado in Moore. 
Volunteers unload donated items for tornado victims at the Yellow Rose Theater on May 25 in Moore. 
Volunteer Brittany Pendergraft organizes donated tornado relief items inside the Yellow Rose Theater on May 25 in Moore. 
Eddie Jones of the Christian Life Center in Rolla, Missouri, cooks for residents and volunteers helping with tornado relief on May 25 in Moore. 
Carol Kawaykla holds a picture of her mother she found in the rubble of her tornado-devastated home in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 24. 
The sun sets over debris from houses littering the ground in Moore, Oklahoma, on Thursday, May 23, three days after the town was damaged by a tornado. 
Debris is scattered across a driveway on May 23. Severe thunderstorms barreled through this Oklahoma City suburb at dawn Thursday, complicating cleanup efforts. 
Lightning strikes during a thunderstorm as people search for items that can be saved from their devastated home on May 23. 
A devastated neighborhood is seen on May 23 in Moore. 
A woman searches for belongings at a home on May 22 in Moore. 
Michael Pritz swings a golf club while taking a break from helping his friend to salvage belongings on May 22. 
Debris litters what remains of a classroom at Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22. Seven children died at the school in Monday's tornado. 
A makeshift shelter stands next to a home destroyed by the tornado on May 22. 
Casey Angle walks on the bunk bed she shared with her sister Sydney, who was among the students killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School during the tornado. 
Tara McDonald shows some items salvaged from her home on May 22. 
A swing set sits warped at Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22. 
Plaza Towers Elementary School students Monica Boyd and Lavontey Rodriguez sit at the parking lot of their tornado devastated school. 
Travis French and his wife, Amy, of Capitol Hill Baptist Church hand out fresh fruit, water and hygiene packs to Thomas and Kelcy Trowbridge. 
Teachers from Fairview Elementary School help clean up former school counselor Kay Taylor's home in south Oklahoma City on May 22, two days after an extremely powerful tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma. 
Jake English, 12, cleans up retired school counselor Kay Taylor's home on May 22 in south Oklahoma City, just west of Moore. The storm was part of a tornado outbreak that began in the Midwest and Plains on Sunday, May 19. 
A man talks on his cell phone in front of a destroyed house on May 22. 
A man looks through a pile of clothing at a roadside relief camp on May 22 in Moore. 
Volunteers form a chain to retrieve clothing and other household items on May 22. 
Jon Booth moves a piece of debris from his mother's destroyed home across the street from Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22. 
Matt Johnson salvages items from his grandparents' home on Tuesday, May 21. 
An aerial view of the destruction on May 21. 
The storm, which touched down near Newcastle, Oklahoma, spanned 1.3 miles. Some areas along the path were completely flattened. 
Two men fold an American flag found in the debris of a house on May 21 in Moore. 
A young girl stands among the rubble outside Briarwood Elementary School on May 21. 
A doll covered in dirt is among the rubble scattered throughout a neighborhood in Moore on May 21. 
Bonnie Lolofie, left, and Ashley Do carry belongings from their apartment, which has no power, on May 21. 
Residents salvage belongings from their demolished homes in Moore on May 21. 
Kelli Kannady weeps after finding a box of photographs of her late husband in the rubble near where her home once stood in Moore on May 21. 
Tufts of pink insulation hang from the rafters of a store in Moore on May 21 that was destroyed in the storm. 
Natalie Johnson searches through her mother's destroyed car outside Briarwood Elementary School in Moore on May 21. 
Rescuers dig out a house in Moore on May 21. 
June Simson embraces her cat Sammi after she found him standing among the rubble of her destroyed home in Moore on May 21. 
A man stands on the roof of a destroyed home in Moore on May 21. 
A man helps move a resident's belongings from a destroyed home on May 21 in Moore. 
Air Force Airman First Class Justin Acord sifts through the rubble of his father-in-law's home in Moore on May 21. 
People recover belongings from the rubble of a home in Moore. 
People sort through a leveled home in Moore on May 21. 
Debris lies among headstones in the Moore Cemetery on May 21. 
Workers clean up the Warren movie theater in Moore on May 21. 
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett surveys damage in Moore on May 21. 
Piles of debris lie around the north side of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore on May 21. 
As dawn breaks, storm clouds roll in over a devastated neighborhood in Moore on May 21. 
Members of the Oklahoma National Guard look for survivors in rubble in Moore on May 21. 
A National Guardsman assists in the search for victims on May 21. 
A rescue worker leads a horse from the wreckage of a day care center and barns on Monday, May 20, in Moore. 
Men tie an American flag on debris in a neighborhood off Telephone Road in Moore on May 20. 
Children wait for their parents to arrive at Briarwood Elementary School in south Oklahoma City on May 20. 
Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20. 
Teachers lead children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20. Read more about the photo. 
A fire official drives through the rubble of Moore Medical Center on May 20. 
Abby Madi, left, and Peterson Zatterlee comfort Zatterlee's dog, Rippy, on Monday, May 20, in Moore. 
A woman is treated for her injuries on May 20 at a triage area set up for the wounded. 
Two girls stand in rubble in Moore. 
Rescue workers help free one of more than a dozen people who were trapped at a medical center in Moore on May 20. 
Oklahoma City firefighters check on Gene Tripp on May 20 as he sits in his rocking chair where his home once stood. 
A nurse helps an older man who suffered a head injury on May 20 in Moore. 
Cars marked with an orange X, meaning they have been checked for occupants, are piled up in front of the entrance to the damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20. 
Jim Routon hugs his neighbor, 7-year-old Hezekiah, after the tornado strikes on May 20. An earlier version of this caption incorrectly stated that Routon was Hezekiah's teacher. See an interview with the pair. 
People look through the wreckage of their neighborhood after a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20. 
Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her destroyed house in Moore on May 20. 
Residents look through the debris in Moore on May 20. 
A man looks through the remains of a home after the massive tornado struck Moore on May 20. 
A woman is transported on a stretcher after she was rescued from the damaged medical center in Moore on May 20. 
A woman walks through debris in Moore on May 20. 
A man is taken away from the IMAX Theater in Moore that was used as a triage center on May 20. 
A girl wraps herself in a blanket near the Moore Hospital on May 20. 
A nurse walks by the destruction at a Moore hospital on May 20. 
Destroyed cars scatter the landscape in Moore, Oklahoma, where hundreds of homes and buildings were put to ruin on May 20. 
A woman with an arm injury is helped on May 20 in Moore. 
Extensive damage from the tornado destroyed cars and demolished structures in Moore on May 20. 
Onlookers stop to view a portion of the destruction left behind on May 20 in Moore. 
Overturned cars are among the rubble from the tornado that hit Moore on May 20. 
A woman is comforted after the May 20 tornado in Moore. 
A shredded tree stands amid debris in the aftermath of the storm in Moore on May 20. 
A shopping center parking lot is covered with debris and damaged cars on May 20. 
Law enforcement officers block a roadway in Moore where there was extensive damage from the tornado. 
A massive tornado approaches Moore on May 20. The storm first touched down to the west of the city near Newcastle, Oklahoma. Visit CNN.com/impact for ways to help the victims. Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma City area
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Photos: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma Sunday, something upset the child and he threw a temper tantrum, the country sheriff's office said.
Geiling went over to calm him, but the screaming upset another family member -- Geiling's dog.
The dog probably thought the boy was attacking its owner, said Garland County Deputy Scott Hinojosa.
It lunged for him.
Geiling fought to unlock the dog's jaws from around the boy while calling to her husband for help, the sheriff's office said.
She pried the dog loose, but the damage was done.
The couple rushed the bleeding boy to meet an ambulance, which took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities did not release his name.
The dog ran away but was later captured. No charges have been filed against Geiling, Hinojosa said.
"I am just really sorry that this happened in Garland County to people who have undergone such tragedy. It makes your heart bleed for them," Garland County Justice of the Peace Mary Bournival told CNN affiliate KATV.
She was close to tears. As justice of the peace, she has seen too many maulings by dogs.
She keeps a collection of gruesome photos of people with flesh torn away from their arms, legs and faces by "bully" breeds, as she calls them.
"I would say just in the last two months we've had at least seven attacks involving these dogs," she said.
Her county has some of the most relaxed laws in the state, she said. "We don't even have a simple leash law."
She wants that to change.
But that would be too little too late for the little boy and his family.
List of the May 31 storm fatalities in Oklahoma
CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report
